>> the latest news and the week's top stories from r.t. washington fails to get the world on its side for an attack on syria. with scant support from the g-20. ed brutality of that civil war firsthand as the syrian tries to clean an ancient christian village. also headlining this morning, officials in afghanistan say a nato air strike has killed civilians including women and children, something the alliance is denying.

we look at the legacy that coalition troops are set to leave when they withdraw forces next year. and moscow votes for a new mayor. a clear victory for the acting chief and aleksey navalny trailing well behind. it's the first mayoral election in nearly a decade. good morning, this is the weekly from r.t. it's after 1:00 a.m. now. the week top stories, it's been a tough week for u.s. secretary of state john kerry. he has been trying to convince the european union to get onboard with the strike on syria over the alleged use of chemical weapons. kerry presented no new evidence against the syrian government and very few countries are

willing to rush into action without u.n. approval. obama has made no final decision on whether to strike. that's an apparent turnaround from last week. so far turkey and france have been first in line to back the united states against syria, but president barack obama wasn't able to change the minds of other world leaders at the g-20 summit. tough action should be taken, but they didn't endorse military intervention. our correspondent was there. >> i was elected to end wars, not start them. >> u.s. military intervention in syria dominated talks at the g-20, but if obama was looking to gather overwhelming support at the summit, he didn't get it in st. petersburg. >> there is no military solution. >> there is no military solution. >> we will not participate in military action. >> aside from france, occur i can, and saudi arabia, few countries expressed outright support for obama's proposal of a military strike.

in a joint statement, they condemned the use of chemical weapons blaming the ausada government and calling for some kind of response, but they stopped short of backing a u.s. attack on syria. summit host president putin accused the rebels of being behind a chemical weapons attack near damascus in august that he says was carried out to discredit syrian authorities in the eyes of the west. >> i view everything that happened with the so-called use of chemical weapons in syria as a provocation by the rebels to count on help from abroad from those countries that originally supported them. that's the reason for this provocation. i want to remind you that the use of force against a sovereign state is acceptable only if it's done for self-defense. we know that syria hasn't attacked the u.s. and only if the united nations security council approves such action. as one of the participants put it yesterday, those who do otherwise put themselves above the law. >> obama continues to insist

ausada was behind the attack. he won't wait for the u.n. to respond. >> the ausada regime's brazen use of chemical weapons isn't just a syrian tragedy, it's a threat to global peace and security. >> the u.s. president is due to address the american public on tuesday and try to make his best argument for an attack on syria, one that failed to convinc global partners at the g-20. this summit could have been a last chance for a political solution to the syria crisis or at least an attempt to push forward with diplomacy. the leaders parted st. petersburg split solidly on those for or against military intervention in the syrian war, what has been called the worst humanitarian crisis in modern history. reporting from the g-20. >> and surprisingly syria overshadowed those talks in st. petersburg this last week and pressing questions about where the global economy is heading.

r.t.'s venture capital caught up to discuss the global economic outlook. you can watch the show available online at rt.com. congress is still divided on whether to attack syria or not. the first senate showdown vote is expected on wednesday, the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. a poll says 56% of americans don't want their country to use its armed forces against syria and some of them making their voices heard in the capital. some of the chants ringing in washington, d.c. with crowds marching from the white house to capitol hill. an nbc poll found that nearly 80% of americans think the president needs congressional approval for any armed response against syria. however, obama says he does still have the authority to order a military strike, even without lawmaker support.

this is how it pans out as far as the polls are concerned showing over half of americans are against any strikes on syria. that figures even higher in france and the u.k. it is showing 60 and 80% against military action. similar sentiments shared in germany and italy. incidentally as well, a share against intervention in syria's neighbor turkey is even higher. syria's president ausada says that he had nothing to do with any chemical weapons attack. there is no evidence linking him to it. in the u.s., that claim is backed up in a letter to president obama written by former military analysts. i was told about the mood on capitol hill and why he thinks the president may be softening his stance. >> last friday, kerry went before the cameras and said we got to do this and here is the, not intelligence, mind you, but the government assessment meaning the white house had a

chance to massage it and edit it. it didn't hold up to scrutiny. apparently the military got to the president. i see some evidence of this. the next thing we know, the president has changed his mind on saturday afternoon and the only thing that really intervened was the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff telling the president, look, it's going to be really hard to explain why we have to do this now. we can do this tomorrow or next week or next month. we don't really have to do it now. and the president said that in justifying his delay. now, what is more evidence? lindsey graham and john mccain the next day just took off after the joint chiefs of staff chairman in a very personal and vindictive way because they know that finally the military leaders went to the president and said, look, we know you are being told that this is going to be easy and limit, but these guys and gals don't know a

thing about war. they do. >> how do you think the congressional vote is going to play out in the upcoming vote? which way is it going to go? >> i talked to a congressman last night for five minutes. it was very clear that he pledged the house leader, nancy pelosi, that he would vote according to what the president says because we have to protect the president and are you going to say that the president is lying? you don't have to say the president is lying. what you do need to say, according to our information, is that the president is being given cooked-up intelligence, because john brennan, the head of the c.i.a., and james clapper, the confessed purr juroror have thought in their interests to cater to the wishes of the white house which have been very clear this time we want to strike syria. >> ray mcgovern. in syria, the conflict rages on. an ancient christian village of maaloula that was stormed by hebles a few years ago.

we were able to enter the village and our correspondent has this report for you. >> we entered maaloula through its ancient investigates burnt and damaged after recent attacks after the syrian army announced many of the militants were pushed back. signs of a recent battle and destruction were everywhere. we were told to move fast and to follow the military's vehicles without stopping or even slowing down. there are some parts of the road where we have to speed up. officers still fear there could be snipers around. we hear them shouting go, go, fast. on one turn, we suddenly stop. it's hard to understand exactly what happened. we only hear a loud boom and feel the earth shake. we get out of the car to take a look around. we're now inside maaloula village. it is hard to believe that what

used to be one of the biggest shrines of christian community all over the world now is a battlefield. look at this! and then we realized we have landed in the heart of this battle as suddenly bullets started flying around us. we have entered maaloula village with the army, but just a few minutes later, they told us to get back. the militants launch an attack firing and flowing explosives from the safety of high ground. so this is what we're doing right now. we are coming back to the entrance. this is where a car bomb exploded on wednesday morning and this is how it all started after a suicide attack, militants mostly from the news are group stormed in and --ed i there are clashes for three days. they continue now. soldiers fire back but they can't see enemy fighters who

are cooped up in their hiding places. they are saying there are militants in maaloula village right now. they are in sophia motel. this is a mountaintop hotel that was taken by the rebels and they are firing even now from that position. also from behind the mountains surrounding the maaloula village and that is where the danger lies because there are many snipers and there are rocket grenades and there are bombs, mortar bombs. as far as you can see the situation on the ground is very hard. you can see that the army is regrouping right now, but the scene is that tomorrow and monday, the situation could change dramatically. this is the day when the

american congress starts debate on syria whether to strike this country or not. the decision made thousands of kilometers away from this battlefield will effect the setup at this military theater, but exactly how is not easy to predict. >> officials in afghanistan say that nine out of 15 people killed in nato's latest air strike were civilians including women and children. they insist it's not aware of any collaterals saying that 10 militants were taken in what they called a precision attack. the taliban killed four afghan groups in an assault. you see the aftermath of that on the newsreel. all of this ahead of the scheduled foreign troop withdrawal in 2014. nato's presence is actually the main cause of the insurgency, we are told. >> the civilian death toll shows us over 10 years that, look, that nato is not winning

in afghanistan, that fighting militants is very, very difficult and civilian casualties have been on the increase, even though nato called these precision attacks, they're not very precise. whether they are in afghanistan or on the border regions of pakistan, civilians are paying the cost of this war. since the occupation started, the taliban have seen an increase in support there. it's almost that the movement has been revived. civilians, the normal people are looking for someone to resist against the occupation. i think that as you see increase of civilian casualties, people's brothers, fathers, homes are destroyed, people are murdered, family members killed, they will turn to those people and say, look, we can free you of this suppression. >> the battle of moscow, results coming in for the mayor election early on. these are not looking good for aleksey navalny, the latest

after the break.

>> hello again. you're watching r.t. early results coming in from moscow's first merrill election in a decade. the latest figures say that the incumbent sergey sobyanin won 52% of the vote while his rival, opposition candidate, aleksey navalny received more than 26%. our correspondent reports. >> initially it was widely expected that acting mayor sergey sobyanin would most probably beat his main rival and candidate from the opposition, aleksey navalny in this election and the question was and still very much is, is

this going to happen in the first round or will there be a second round taking place? the voter turnout was around 32%, which is frankly much less than initially expected. now, this election has been monitored by 11,000 observers, many of them, a large part of them are actually independent activists, also webcam ares were installed at over 3,600 polling stations across the whole city in an effort to ensure transparency. this is the first time that moscow is choosing a mayor since 2003. lots of attention is paid to how fair it is being held. there were no reports of major violations. it's really, the focus is really on how these ballots are going to be counted since that is what is going to decide whether or not a second round will be there and that will only happen if neither candidate manages to pass the

50% mark. now, six candidates are taking part in this election, but clearly the main rivals are acting mayor sergey sobyanin and aleksey navalny. now, for mr. sobyanin, he has already been in charge of the city for over two year now, but for aleksey navalny, this is really his first attempt at such a high political post. he is quite a controversial figure in russia, partially due to his connection with the nationalists. he did become one of the leaders of the opposition movement during last year's wave of mass protests. he is also known due to his nti-corruption online project, but in july, he himself was found guilty of embezzlement and sentenced to five years behind bars. he was released on bail. many analysts actually say that that didn't only allow him to take part in this election, but also may have served as additional publicity. navalny is planning to appeal that sentence after the election. he is also saying that no matter what the outcome of the

vote would be, he has already received a green light from the authorities to hold a rally on monday in central moscow to meet with his supporters and we are waiting for the final results and the final figures. >> we'll be following that in the coming 24 hours in depth for. now, online, highlighting a few stories, if you're a smartphone owner, be it an iphone or android, whatever, your security settings, nonetheless are no match for the n.s.a. they'refully capable of accessing your data. delighted cheers echoing across tokyo as the city was awarded the 2020 summer olympics living rivalist istanbul behind. reaction can be found on our website.

a british firm has been revealed as the brains behind invasive spying software which allows clients including governments to get limitless surveillance access to people's computers. it was named in the latest wikileaks spy files this week exposing close ties between intelligence agencies and private i.t. contractors. our correspondent has the story. >> say goodbye to the days of super sleuths, gadgets and surveillance bugs. to invade a person's privacy, phone calls internet activity and meems, all you need is spyware. the latest leak, spy file three reveals that british companies are pioneering the technology. this is a promotional video about its advanced surveillance software. it boasts it can be enstalled inside an internet server and

it can affect any user in the country to spyware. nothing you say, type, is safe. that's your online passwords and user names. >> the device that the government can purchase and install in the internet service providers. if you are browsing an illegal website, it will affect the user. >> behind me are gamea international's u.k. headquarters from where the company develops and sells the capabilities to tap into anyone's smartphone or computer. reporters without borders have named the company one of the five corporate enemies of the internet. the technology is marketed worldwide to law enforcement agencies as a way of identifying and catching serious criminals. human rights campaigners say that the software is regularly told to repressive political regimes where the definition of criminal can be somewhat

different. as one human rights campaigner in bahrain found out. she says the surveillance was used to target her after she took part in anti-government protests. >> it looked like a genuine email. the email is from another political activist saying they were beginning talks with the king of bahrain about the future of the country. i was very intrigued, very curious and it was gamea international, just opened my eyes into another world of surveillance technology and monitoring. there is also allowing the private sector to carry out these kind of activities for other foreign governments. >> researchers have identified servers around the globe. >> they are targeted at activists and journalists last year. we have found servers for the spyware, used in a number of other countries.

we found a sample of the spyware that appeared to be targeted at activists of ethiopia. the scary thing, at least from my perspective, is that this technology can be proliferated around the world without any sort of debate. >> it may be the stuff of spy movies, but campaigners say the british government needs to wake up and start regulating whose hands the invasive technology is falling into. we need to start acting like the weapons that can be used online are exactly the same as the kind of weapons like bombs and guns that can be used to hurt people. >> a couple of world news stories in brief to update you on. protesters and police clashed in greece's second largest city after another round of rallies there. fighting broke out after the prime minister delivered a speech promising economic recovery was on its way. relentless push to get a third bailout from international

lenders. those steps include tax hiking along with labor market and pension reforms. protesters blocked roads leading to one of the largest arms fairs in london. over 1,300 companies are set to be displacing their hardware at the event set to launch on monday. police were called into manage the situation. no clashes have been reported. anti-war groups says it encourages arms sales to countries with poor human rights records. prisoner turned president, nelson mandela is also the face of an international brand. while he remains bedbound, relatives have been fighting to try to get a piece of the money pie. our correspondent has the story. >> as as far as reality tv shows go, this one is right up there. sibling rivalry, feuds, and family gossip, but it's not any old family we're talking about here. it's the mandelas. >> it's clearly not a nelson

mandela project. it's a mandela family project. >> mandiba is very uncomfortable about his name or his image being associated with commercial projects. so the question becomes where do you draw the line. >> the reality show follows the lives of two of mandela's granddaughters as they spend and lose money on extravagant business ventures and go on wild shopping surprise. it's a far cry from the humble background mandela grew up in or the reality facing the poor black citizens. it's their name and they have a right to use it however they see fit. >> i think he has paid his dues to society and i think his family, very often we don't mention, the price they have to pay without a father, an uncle that was behind bars all of these years. >> yet it's disgusted most south africans, while an icon were laying in a hospital bed,

his family were cashing on his name. two of his daughters took him to court for a share of his legacy. it hurt him deeply and dragged the country's moral compass to a new low. >> i understand why they're doing it. there is a lot of money. after all, if you have that money, but i think it's wrong. >> like the father of a nation actually, so all of these that are happening right now, i'm not really sure if this is appropriate for people to be using this. >> it is their family name. >> you cannot go to south africa without the man. he is everywhere, on bank notes, book shelves, smiling down from up above. more than just a man, he has become a global brand, one that is estimated to be worth millions of dollars. >> any extension of the brand has to be almost more of the same. it has to respect the qualities

and the values of that brand into all of those other areas. so it's a tricky area, that brand of nelson mandela is being stretched and tortured and pulled in different directions. >> for most south africans, nothing can match the man himself who lived inside this house. this is the mandela family home. for weeks people have been leaving here flowers, gifts, and cards. the crowds might have gone, but the messages and hopes remain engraved on small stones. it's a sad irony that the father of the nation who brought south africa brought his nation to a civil war has his family fighting within itself. >> thanks for choosing the r.t. network. coming up, we take a look at the disturbing number of suicides by u.s. soldiers in our next program after the break.

welcome to "newsline." it's monday, september 9th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. u.s. secretary of state john kerry is still trying to get support for a military strike against syria. the top diplomat says inaction sends the wrong message to iran and north korea. kerry has been trying to convince arab leaders. >> assad's deplorable use of chemical weapons, which we know